Abstract
Cancer is an emerging public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa. Several medicinal plants are used by traditional healers to treat tumors. In Togo, there are no recorded data for these plants but traditional healers claim to cure tumors with some success. So, information on medicinal plants used to cure human tumors and cancer could be of great importance for their widespread use and scientific validation. The present ethnopharmacological survey aims to record information on antitumor plants in central and Kara regions of Togo. Semistructured validated questionnaires were administered to fifty-seven traditional healers specialized in tumor management in 7 prefectures of Togo. Good practices and know-how were recorded. Quantitative ethnobotanical tools were used to analyze and summarize the data collected. 85 recipes of medicinal plants for tumors management are provided. In the local dialect, 78.95% of traditional healers do not have a clear tumor designation and 29.90% find that the causes of tumors remain unknown. According to 48.78% of traditional healers, the diagnosis of tumors in patients is made in the hospital. The types of tumors frequently treated are those of the breast (43.75%) and the lung (16.67%). The seventy listed medicinal plants belong to thirty-nine families, the most represented being Rubiaceae (17.95%), Caesalpiniaceae (12.82%), Fabaceae (10.26%), and Annonaceae (7.69%). The ten most cited species were Xylopia aethiopica, Aframomum melegueta, Khaya senegalensis, Parkia biglobosa, Piliostigma thonningii, Blighia sapida, Vitellaria paradoxa, Adansonia digitata, Annona muricata, and Parinari curatellifolia. Most of the recipes are prepared as decoction (40%) and administered orally (54.12%). Both regions of our study have a wealth of medicinal plants, and traditional healers would use their local knowledge in the management of various tumors and chronic wounds.
Highlights
Noncommunicable diseases are responsible for the majority of global deaths [1]
Estimations suggest that Asia and Africa have the highest proportion of cancer deaths compared with their incidence [1]
It is well known that apart from the accumulation of mutations, chronic inflammation and chronic wounds lead to cancer in the affected organs [2]
Summary
Noncommunicable diseases are responsible for the majority of global deaths [1]. Cancer, one of them, is increasingly recognized as a critical public health problem. e International Agency for Research on Cancer estimated 18.1 million new cancer cases for 185 countries of the world and 9.6 million cancer deaths in 2018. E International Agency for Research on Cancer estimated 18.1 million new cancer cases for 185 countries of the world and 9.6 million cancer deaths in 2018. In Africa, there were 1.1 million new cancer cases and 0.69 million cancer deaths in. It is well known that apart from the accumulation of mutations, chronic inflammation and chronic wounds lead to cancer in the affected organs [2]. Chronic wounds due to tissue damage and/or infections could induce chronic oxidative stress and inflammation [3,4,5]. By these pathways, the generation of free radical, chronic inflammation, and chronic wounds can lead
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